Aarif Deen
The Colorado Avalanche are making their first free agent addition of the summer. According to reports from former NHL player Scottie Upshall, the Avs signed veteran forward Jaden Schwartz to a three-year contract. Sportsnet’s NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman said the contract carries a $3.25 million AAV.
Schwartz, 34, is coming off a 26-point season in 50 games with the Seattle Kraken, where he has spent the last five years of his NHL career. His career-high is 63 points in the 2014-15 season with the St. Louis Blues. In 2024-25, Schwartz had 26 goals and 49 points in 81 games with the Kraken.
Schwartz was drafted in the first round in 2010 by the Blues and played there for well over a decade before the 2021 expansion draft sent him to Seattle.
In 861 career NHL games, Schwartz has 233 goals, 320 assists, and 553 points. He regularly plays on the penalty kill and power play.
Listed at 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, Schwartz won the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019. He had 20 points in 26 games during that run, which included 12 goals and two game winners.
Before graduating to the NHL in 2012, Schwartz spent two seasons playing for Colorado College.